Author's Note: Yay! I finally updated. Sorry about the long wait life just got in the way. I'm terribly sorry. But here's an update nonetheless. Hope you all enjoy and don't forget to favorite, follow, AMD my favorite review! Thanks again, Bella4evr3

Side note: this chapter is not edited, so all grammatical errors are my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All rights are reserved.

Chapter 6

"Grimmjow?" he answers with a question, the sixth espada used sonido bypassing all other captains and lieutenants to appear before Ichigo. "I'm back. Much to my utter disgust. Man, you guys make it hard for an arrancar to sneak into the Soul Society." He yells. He takes a seat next to Ichigo ignoring Kyouraku's and Ukitake's protests in the room and a very pissed off Isshin.

'Just why is an Espada here?' Isshin thought. Ichigo voiced the same question. They were left dumbfounded by the answer the arrancar presented.

"I'm here to watch over you." Much to Isshin's surprise Ichigo wasn't affected by the arrancar's presence. "Ichigo, how can you be so calm about all of this!"

"He was…" Ichigo started, although stopped when all other captains and lieutenants stormed into his room.

Captains and Lieutenants stormed into Ichigo's recovery room feeling the arrancar's negative spiritual pressure, as well as hearing the alarms from the Seireiti being invaded, once again.

It was all very weird to the recovering soul reaper. He thought up till now that no one cared for him. From the first moment he had taken his friend's place Aizen had beaten into him that he was worthless. That he was nothing special therefore should be treated as some weak animal. Now he had found rather quickly his views had changed and he was much more to these people who claim to care about him. And saw that he wasn't forgotten after all of this time being held captive up in Las Noches.

"Arrancar!" Squad Two Captain Sui-Fēng shouted and added, "You better have a good reason for being here before I kill you!" Sui-Fēng reached for the hilt of her Zanpaukto ready to strike whenever the right opportunity showed itself.

"Ichigo, why is he here? Why are you so calm?!" The ex-captain was hysterical. He couldn't fathom the trauma his son went through. He couldn't know the pain Aizen had thrown upon him. Here was his son sitting on the bed that was prepared for him since his appearance back into the Soul Society – looking calm and talking calmly with one of his tormentors. He just didn't understand why Ichigo would behaving like they were some sort of friends.

"I was going to say before everyone stormed into my room that Grimmjow was the one who helped me escape that prison." The room went extremely quiet the next moment. They had never given thought to how Ichigo had escaped the heavily guarded palace that was Las Noches.

"Grimmjow—Why are you here, really?" The arrancar sneered at the obvious recovering soul reaper. His rival looked the very definition of weak. "As I said previously, I'm here to watch over you. Is it that hard to understand?" Grimmjow was really regretting listening to Stark, yet he needed to be here… Ichigo was going to need protection. Protection that even Captain-level soul reapers could not manage.

"Kurosaki explain." Ichigo lifted his gaze from Grimmjow to Toshiro the short captain stated in a demanding tone. He sighed, just what was he going to say? He couldn't talk about what Aizen had done to him. He couldn't talk about Aizen's punishments and the blunt battles he had been a part of with each arrancar and espada that had left him sore and unable to move for countless days and nights.

The continued silence was a hint to Isshin that maybe Ichigo was still dealing with the trauma Aizen and his followers had caused. "Excuse my interruption captains, but I think this conversation can be explained later. After Ichigo has received some rest." Ichigo's body had automatically un-tensed. He couldn't be more grateful to his father then he was in this moment.

"I'd like for Grimmjow to stay." Ichigo's voice was so soft that it would have been unheard. Yet, Isshin could hear his son just fine. He remained where he was. He hadn't been a part of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in a while and was not privy to the Head Captain's orders. Thus he could stay as long as he liked with his recovered son. He had a lot of questions for him. Mainly why he felt like he could trust Grimmjow when obviously the arrancar had been a part of his abuse?

"As if the weak-ass soul reapers could remove me." The sixth espada sneered… the way Grimmjow acted was the same. When Ichigo was in Las Noches in Hueco Mundo he hadn't known that Grimmjow had somewhat cared for him. It was disconcerting. Ichigo continued to glance at the intimidating espada, yet the unknown silence that had dropped between the two was broken by Isshin who Ichigo had forgotten had stayed behind.

"Ichigo, now explain to me why this… arrancar is here sitting like he has done nothing wrong." If he was honest to himself, Ichigo could feel his body tiring from everything that has kept on happening since he had awoken in the room. It would be a long time before he could even think about getting some much needed sleep.

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.

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In the dark atmosphere of Hueco Mundo cries of pain filled the silent air. A lone arrancar stood in the soft sand that covered most of the land. Staring at the eternal pale moon that watched over Hueco Mundo witnessing everything; sharing the burden of betrayal. His betrayal. The Primera Espada.

He stood there… in the same exact spot when he had led his subordinate away from the palace of Las Noches soon the plan he had derived would come into place. And at long last the Espada would gain their freedom from Aizen. No longer would they follow him….